It seems Square-Enix's plans to merge 8 of the eighteen Final Fantasy XIV servers has hit a snag, as players have expressed outrage over the merger. As a result the publisher has put the merger, which was to have taken place on the 27th March, on hold for re-evaluation.

In a post on the official blog, the publisher apologized, “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the wealth of feedback you have provided us with following the announcement made regarding the World merge and character transfers. In order to ensure that the most desirable and effective outcome is achieved, we will be reassessing the method of the merger process.”

The original merger announcement has been removed, as Square-Enix also promised, "New details on the World merge will be made public as they become available in the Topics section of the Lodestone."

The merger would have preceded the Final Fantasy XIV 2.0 update, which will give the MMO a much-needed overhaul.